Sunday, June 3, 2012

The Ever-Expanding Garden

Watching plants grow is a life-affirming practice, and you long to have more.I can now see how gardening can begin to take over your life.

We built two raised beds three years ago on the far side of the driveway.

We started with two.

The pink stuff is creeping thyme in flower - the bees love it.

A day later, we realized we could build a bed on the near side of the driveway.

And so, we had three.

Peas, chard and turnip greens

Last year, our neighbor asked us if I'd like to grow vegetables in his garden.

And so, we had four.

Garden four is larger than the other beds put together.

This year, we discussed at great length, "Why not put raised beds in front of the house?"

And so, we have five.

Look now while there are no weeds.

Actually, we had been growing fruits and vegetables in front of the house for a few years, but the soil was poor and the drainage off the roof directly onto the garden plants wasn't great either. To fix these problems, we built raised beds, set them farther out than the drip edge of the roof, and filled the beds with well-aged composted manure from a local hobby farmer. I have a lot of hope for these new beds.